


For the Fallen Ones

by heyhay13



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: AU, Alternate Ending, Dark Jack, Jack becoming a fearling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-27
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-01-26 18:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 6,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1697414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyhay13/pseuds/heyhay13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Jack made it in time to save Sandy?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He saw it. Watched, as the sands formed into a solid black arrow before the Boogeyman’s hands. He stared as he took aim, as his arm drew back.

                He didn’t even realized he screamed before he took off from North’s sled, as Tooth shouted out his name behind him.

                The arrow was released. It was sent flying across the night sky towards the little golden man. He raced forward, as fast as the winds would carry him but it didn’t seem like enough. He wasn’t going to make it- but then he did! He shot through the storm of black and gold sand and pushed Sandy out of the way just in time. He’d done it! Jack had saved him!

                It was a short lived joy. Sandy’s eyes looked down at him, full of panic and concern. Jack didn’t understand why, until a sharp pain erupted in his side, burying into his ribs. Then everything happened at once. His staff was knocked from his hands from the force of the blow and the wind suddenly abandoned him. In the distance he heard the Guardians shout his name again, but it was hard to make out between the rush of wind and his heart pounding in his ears as the pain started to spread. He had no idea what the nightmare sand would do to him- what it was doing- only he knew that it burned.

                Looking up he desperately tried locating his staff. He spotted it spiraling downwards and quickly went after it. His vision was getting dark and blurred but the adrenaline was overpowering it as he _had_ to get that staff. What he didn’t realize was that the sleigh was zipping towards him. He didn’t realize it until the moment he closed his grip around the icy wood, and the next moment the blur of red was below him before he had any time to stop.

                The blur of red was the last thing he saw before the world suddenly turned pitch black. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's dream

_“What are you afraid of Jack…?”_ a voice hissed darkly, melting into a cruel snicker. Jack spun around, realizing he was on ice – his pond to be exact. He didn’t know how he had gotten there but his grip on his staff tightened when the shadows seemed to dance around. From the darkness he spotted Pitch’s glowing golden eyes.

                “PITCH! Get out here and fight!!” he snarled, firing a blast of frost lightening into the darkness. Laughter echoed around him then the Nightmare King formed from the shadows and stepped out onto the lake.

                “Oh but Jack, do you know what side you are really on?” he purred and the frostling paused.

                “What are you talking about? I’m with the Guardians!” Jack shouted back at him.

                “Really? Will they ever trust you now that you look like that?” Pitch mocked then motioned to the ice below him. Jack looked down and jumped back at what he saw in his reflection. The person staring back at him had soot grey skin, jet black hair and his eyes were glowing gold just like Pitch’s. Jack reached up to his face, panicking as the reflection did the same, confirming it was really him.

                “W-What did you do?!” Jack said, looking back up at Pitch, his tone between rage and desperation. To his surprise, Pitch had vanished, leaving him alone on the ice again. He looked back down at his refection when suddenly the boy below him smirked, a wide, cruel smile full of razor sharp teeth. Before he could react again the ice below him shattered as a grey hand shot out and grabbed the spirit by his ankle. Jack screamed, ready to fire frost at it when the hand yanked him down. The ice cracked and fractured again, this time completely breaking below him and he shouted again as he fell into the icy waters. Kicking desperately he tried to get back to the surface when he looked up to see those golden eyes again.

                “ _Are you ready to play Jack…?”_ It said with a dark smile before Jack’s world went black.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack sat up right with a scream, followed by the loud cracking of frost shooting out and covering most of the room. He was breathing hard, shaking as he looked around and realized that he wasn’t on his lake, he was back in some part of North’s workshop. Slow his breathing down, Jack pulled his knees up to his chest. As he came back into focus he realized there was footsteps coming down the hall quickly right before the door burst open.

                “Jack, are you alright?” North said quickly, as Bunnymund and Tooth saw that the room was covered in ice.

                “U-Um, yeah. I’m good.” Jack said shakily, wincing when he realized how badly his side hurt from the sudden movement and burst of energy.

                “Crikey, what happened??” Bunnymund questioned.

                “I-It was just a bad dream” Jack said quickly, but the other guardians looked at each other nervously. Sandy was literally in the building, how could Jack have a nightmare with him so close?

                “Alright, well, we need to check your side” the large rabbit said, slowing moving further into the room. He nodded to the others that he’d take care of it and they reluctantly left the room. Bunny turned back to Jack who quickly put on his signature smirk.

                “Awww, you do care” He teased, but Bunny only scoffed at him as he went up to the bed. He noticed how tense the spirit was as he came up.

                “What was your dream about?” He asked softly but Jack didn’t reply to him. Bunny didn’t push it, then asked him to pull off his hoodie so he could check the wound. He slowly pulled the jacket up, blushing a little as it exposed the bandages wrapped around his torso.

                “What… what happened?” Jack asked, not making eye contain.

                “We… Well we took out several of the nightmares, but it wasn’t much of a victory…” Bunny told him, concerned as he saw the skin above and below the bandages was turning grey. He peeled off the bandages and Jack let out a hiss of pain. He looked down at it to see that his side had a large stitched up gash, but the worst part was that the wound was nearly black and the dark color seemed to be spreading out. He felt the panic rising again as the reflection from his dream flashed in his mind.

                “North thinks the nightmare sand might be… infecting it… somehow…” Bunny told him slowly, trying to remain calm about it.

                “Meh, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Probably turned weird colors since black sand is weird like that” Jack said and Bunny looked up at his face, a little surprised at how fast he brushed it off. He thought he saw worry in his icy blue eyes, but Jack turned away before he could be sure. He went ahead and replaced the bandages in silence while Jack continued to make awful jokes and puns.

                “You should get some rest mate.” he told him, straightening back up.

                “Mmm… alright” Jack said, but have very little intention of going back to sleep. As soon as Bunnymund left the room, he hoped up. Walking over to the mirror he tapped it with his staff to make the ice become clear. He tugged his hoodie back up and ran a pale hand over the darkening skin. His gaze went back up to his eyes and he jerked back when they flashed gold.

“ _Are you ready to play Jack…?”_


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to save Easter

Sandy’s dream sand had been damaged in Pitch’s attack, and the Nightmare King was continuing to make the lights of the globe vanish since the battle. They had a plan though, Jack kept reminding himself, a plan to stop Pitch completely. If they could take Easter, they would turn all those lights back on and crush the Boogeyman’s plot. That was what lead to Jack currently standing in the Warren, surrounded by thousands of colored eggs heading out into the tunnels to be delivered around the world. Toothina, Bunnymund, and North stood near him, helping with the final touches to perfect the holiday. Sandy was out taking the little girl Sophie home after the youngling had accidentally gotten into the Warren via one of North’s snow globes.

                _“We can still stop Pitch, all we need to last through the day…”_ Jack thought, turning back to the tunnels when he thought he saw something move.

                “Um… guys…?” Jack said, but the Guardians were too invested in finalizing Easter to notice. He sighed, then walked over to the tunnel and peered inside. It had gone very dark inside, making Jack’s hair stand on end. Before he could stay something though, two golden eyes appeared before him and a shrill whiny sounded as a Nightmare formed and charged forward straight for Jack.

                “What the-?!” Jack heard Bunny say in shock as more Nightmares materialized in the tunnels and rushed out. The frost spirit started freezing the dark horses, trying to avoid the eggs, but it was clear that they were getting damaged. A boomerang zipped past his head into another creature and Jack turned his head towards Bunny.

                “Hey, Kangaroo! I’m on your side so stop trying to hit me!” He snapped at the rabbit.

                “I told you already! I’m a bun-!” Bunnymund shouted angrily back, but he was again cut off when Tooth suddenly shouted Jack’s name in alarm.

                The frostling turned back towards the tunnels right as a Nightmare lunged forward and bit into Jack’s side. He yelped as it reopened the wound from the arrow, but he still tried to fight back as the horse started dragging him away from the Guardians and into the tunnels.

                “Get off me!” He hissed and froze the creature’s muzzle until it shattered and he broke free. Jack instantly started to fly away when another horse sank its teeth into Jack’s leg and he fell, slamming into the ground of the Warren with pain racing through his body when he passed out.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

Jack woke up in an unfamiliar place. He sat up, realizing how dark it was and he reached around for his staff, feeling a bit of panic as he couldn’t find it.

                “Looking for this…?” Jack skidded back at the sound of Pitch’s voice as the Nightmare king materialized out of the darkness. He was holding the staff in his hands with a dark smirk on his face.

                “Give me that!!!” Jack snarled, lunging at him only to have the man vanish into the darkness with a laugh. He stumbled, but looked around quickly in the dimly lit carven and realize that it must have been Pitch’s lair.

                “Why did you bring me here?” he hissed.

                “Oh, don’t be afraid Jack” Pitch purred, reappearing a ways away from him.

                “Afraid? I’m not afraid of you!” Jack laughed, walking towards him.

                “Oh but you are afraid of something…” Pitch replied, twirling the staff in his hand. “You’re scared you’ll never be seen… and worst, that you’ll never know why…” He said, disappearing again the moment Jack got close. The frostling hissed in frustration, getting more and more aggravated as the Nightmare king kept talking of the fears that rang so true to him. He kept trying to block it out, to not let it get to him but to hear Pitch say it was like a stab in the gut.

                “STOP IT!” Jack shouted as Pitch kept talking, telling him of how the Guardians would never accept him as one of them.

                “They’ll never accept you now, not after what happened to you.” Pitch said, ignoring his yelling.

                “After what…?” Jack said, pausing as Pitch said that.

                “You know what I’m talking about Jack. You’ve seen it, or should I say seen him?” Pitch purred and the images of himself with golden eyes flashed in Jack’s mind.

                “What… What did you do?!” he growled up at Pitch but the Boogeyman had a wicked grin on his face.

                “More to the point Jack, what did you do?” Pitch replied, tossing him his staff. Jack’s eyes widened as he caught it and looked up at Pitch again, but he vanished again. “Now I think it’s time to wake up again Jack” his voice laughed and Jack froze.

                _“To wake up again…?”_


	6. Chapter 6

**Bunnymund’s POV**

                The rabbit was in a panic as he watched the Nightmares flooding into the Warren.

“Hey, Kangaroo! I’m on your side so stop trying to hit me!” Jack had yelled at him after throwing a boomerang a little too close to his face.  

                “I told you already! I’m a bun-!” he started, but then Tooth had shouted “JACK!” as both Guardians saw a large Nightmare lung at the frostling. They were too late to warn him though and the creature bit into Jack’s side. Bunny rushed forward to try and get the animal off, but Jack broke free. The feeling of relief was short lived though as he saw another jump up just a moment later and stopped Jack from escaping again.

                Tooth darted forward and sank her sword into the mare and Bunnymund bounded forward to Jack.

                “Tooth, go! North’ll need ya help!” He told the fairy quickly then leaned down over the spirit. “Jack?” He asked gently as he turned the boy over but got no reply as he was clearly unconscious from the force of the fall. Bunny started to scoop him up to get him to safety when the frost spirit stirred.

                “Come on Jackie,” he said, giving him another nudge. Jack’s eyes crack open, but what Bunny saw made him drop the boy and back up. When Jack hit the ground he jerked completely awake and snapped up.

                “Now, was that really necessary?” Jack groaned, but something about his voice made Bunny’s fur stick up straight.

                “Jack… your eyes…” He said nervously, getting a little closer again, but he was nervous. The boy’s eyes were bright, shimmering gold…. Just like Pitch…

                What was even more like Pitch was the way the boy smirked and laughed darkly. His arm shot up and he grabbed Bunny’s wrist painfully tight and he could feel the cold seeping off his skin and into his fur.

                “Jack! Let go!” He snarled and Jack’s head snapped up to face him.

                “Ya like it?” The boy cackled, inky blackness spreading over his jacket and into his hair and his teeth had started to grow into sharp tips. Bunny ripped his paw free of him and scrambled back, away from the frost sprite.

                “Jack… what happened…??” Bunny said, hardly noticing as the Nightmares continued to attack the other Guardians.

                “Does it really matter?” Jack replied with a smirk then turned his attention to what was going on around them. “Now then, let’s wrap this up” he added before flying off towards the tunnels again. Before Bunny could stop him, a group of Nightmares closed in around the rabbit.

                A few moments after that the rabbit heard the sickening crackle of ice and white exploded out across the Warren. 


	7. Chapter 7

_“More to the point Jack, what did you do?”_

                That line kept ringing in his head as Jack opened his eyes. His mind felt foggy and confused as he realized that he was restrained. Looking around, he saw that what was holding him was shining-no, actually glowing golden. Everything in his body felt sore and he could feel the blood soaked into his hoodie and down his leg where the nightmares had grabbed him. Slowly he figured out what exactly was pinning him down.

                “S-Sandy…? What are you doing…?” He said, looking down at the golden whip around him. He followed it up to where Sandy actually stood, the other Guardians beside him. None of them looked happy and no one said anything at first.

                “Um… Can you let me go now? You’re hurting me…” He whined softly as the pressure from the whip was making the bite in his side flare with pain.

                “Let you go?? After what you did?! We shouldn’t ever let you go after that!!” Bunny suddenly snarled, lunging forward with a paw raised but Sandy stopped him. “We were lucky Sandy got here in time to stop you.” He hissed, shooting Jack a glare.

                “Stop me?? What?” Jack questioned then looked around. He had thought they were outside, back in Burgess or something, but to his horror he realized they were inside a very snow and ice covered Warren. The tunnels were completely sealed off with ice and thousands of smash eggs peaked out of the snow. Pitch’s voice kept ringing in his ears, _“What did you do?”_  

“What happened?!” He snapped, turning to the Guardians with alarm and Bunny looked about ready to stab him.

“You destroyed EASTER! Everything! Everything is gone because of you!!” He snarled, this time ignoring Sandy trying to stop him and he grabbed Jack by his hoodie and yanked him up, the whip disappearing as he did.

“I-I didn’t – Pitch… Pitch took me – I wasn’t… I didn’t…” Jack quickly tried to explain as he flailed in Bunny’s grip.

“Bunny! Put him down!” Tooth finally intervened. The rabbit looked back at her and reluctantly dropped the frostling on the ground. Jack yelped as he landed on his bad leg and collapsed roughly on the snow covered ground.

“Bunny, I didn’t mean for this to happen! Pitch did this!” Jack reasoned while glancing around for his staff. He didn’t understand. One moment he had been fighting with them, against the Nightmares and one of the horses had dragged him off didn’t it? He had woken up in Pitch’s lair but… then he remembered what Pitch had said. _“Now I think it’s time to wake up again Jack.”_ Things started to click into place, but he still didn’t understand how ice and snow now covered the Warren.

“No Jack! Pitch didn’t do this! YOU did this!” He snarled then turned to the guardians.  
“He has to go… We never should have trusted you!” Bunny snarled, turning to Jack and the words stung the boy in a way that his physical wounds couldn’t.

“B-Bunny I didn’t-!” Jack said, scrambling back up to try and reason with him, explain himself, do _something_. When he looked to the other Guardians for help though, he could see it that they agreed. He stepped back, wincing at the pain, but he needed to get away from them. The moment he spotted his staff in the snow he snatched it up and in the next moment he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So for those that didn't understand; Chapters 5 and 6 occur at the same time =) Hope that clears up some stuff for you!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack flees from the Warren, but things only get worse.

He did not stop. Wind whipped around him and snow started to turn to ice and nipped at his skin as he went. The storm surrounded the winter spirit as he raced from Australia and went south. The wind became colder and colder as it tried to sooth his side and his mind. He clung to the staff with one hand, the other wrapped around his side. His hoodie was still dark, and the slick blood on his side made it really look like a shadow over his frame.

                The frostling landed only when he reacted the southernmost continent and he partly crash landed into the snow. He didn’t even care as he let go of his staff and flopped into the freezing snow he so welcomed. The icy feeling started to numb his side and leg, allowing him to think over what had happened in the Warren. Pitch had done a lot more damage than Jack had thought possible, he knew he had been the one to freeze over Aster’s home, but it wasn’t really him…. Right…?

                He lifted his head out of the snow and slowly pulled himself up. The reflection from his dream kept smiling at him in his head. It kept smirking and laughing and he couldn’t make it stop, it was only getting worse. The laughing was joined by Pitch’s taunts and Bunny’s accusations.

                “STOP IT!” He suddenly shouted into the wind with an explosion of ice around him. The force of it shocked him when he realized his staff wasn’t in his hands. Looking up at the jagged shards he realized he wasn’t alone anymore. A dark figure stood in the snow and for a terrifying moment, he thought it was the boy in his reflection before he realized it was the Nightmare King.

                “What do you want?!” He snarled, though he quickly looked for were his staff had gone.

                “I told you they would never accept you.” Pitch purred as he walked up to the frostly, weaving around the ice shards.

                “THAT IS _YOUR_ FAULT!” Jack screamed, standing up. “YOU DID THIS TO ME!” he cried, feeling his rage boil at the same time that tears burned his eyes.

                “I never did anything to you Jackie. You tried to be something you are not. You are no hero.” Pitch replied.

                “You don’t know anything about me!” Jack snarled before the pain in his leg made him fall back to the ground. “I-I was so close… I just wanted people to see me…” he whimpered as tears started to stream down Jack’s face and he was nearly shaking from the frustration.

                “I showed the Guardians what you are not, that does not mean you cannot be believed in.” Pitch said, taking an awfully soothing tone.

                “I DON’T WANT YOUR BELIEF! YOU DON’T HAVE THAT!” Jack snarled, looking up at him with eyes that flashed gold. Ice exploded out towards Pitch, which he narrowly blocked with his sand. “YOU ONLY HAVE FEAR!” He continued before he broke down more, then let out a choked whisper, “I-I don’t want to be feared…”

                “Maybe you will reconsider. Come see me after you talk it over with your so called _friend_.” Pitch told him and Jack looked up again.

                “W-what?” the spirit asked, only to see the Nightmare King dissolve into sand and Jack spotted another shadow moving through the snow right behind where he had been. Jack squinted, confused before he realized that figure was Bunny racing towards him. He scrambled up, a light hope sparking that Bunny had coming looking for him until the Pooka wasn’t stopping.

                “Bunny!” He called when the rabbit leaped over the ice shards and slammed into the small boy. “Bunny! Bunny wait!” Jack pleaded as thick paws pinned him to the ground.

                “Why should I?!” he hissed, glaring down at him.

                “I-I can explain! Pitch did something Bunny! I didn’t mean to do anything to the Warren, I didn’t even know!” He stuttered quickly.

                “I know. It’s called being a Fearling,” the Pooka hissed at him. “And that means you can’t be trusted” he snapped, starting to dig his claws into his shoulders.

                “I-I can! I-I can fight it!” He said, but the more Bunny started to hurt him, the more he felt control slipping. “B-Bunny you’re hurting me!” he squeaked.

                 Bunny lifted a paw and, for a second, Jack thought he was letting go. He had come to his senses, but that same paw then curled into a fist and struck the spirit in the face. This time Jack felt it, the sudden heat that burned from the wound in his side where the arrow had struck. The heat spread and everything felt wrong – he wasn’t supposed to be hot, he was Jack _Frost._ But he was, it felt just like Pitch’s nightmare sand.

                Jack looked back up at Aster with golden eyes. The Pooka snarled, as it only proved his point, but his eyes flashed blue again and his appearance wasn’t changing like it had last time. Jack felt his anger rising and the ice surging through his veins ready to fight back.

                “NO! I WON’T DO IT!” Jack screamed loud enough to make Bunny pause when he realized the frostling wasn’t talking to him.

                In the moment he had paused, Jack shoved the rabbit off and scrambled up.

                “Get away from me Bunny.” He begged, looking down at the Guardian, but he wasn’t finished with Jack yet.

                “NO! I’m not lettin’ ya get away! You’ll only hurt people!” Bunny snarled at him, moving closer again but Jack was quickly backing up.

                “Bunny… Run.” Jack whispered, looking at him with pure blue in his eyes filled with fear. Not fear of the Guardian before him, or even Pitch, but a fear of himself and what was inside of him. He closed his eyes and took the last step back, the step over into the ice carven that ran hundreds of feet down.

                Aster was shocked as the boy disappeared over the edge and he raced forward, forgetting his anger as he tried to catch him. But as soon as he reached the ledge, he heard the explosion before the force of the blast threw him skidding across the snow. And as he looked up, searching for what had blown up, he realized ice was everywhere, _Jack_ ’s ice. Then he realized that _Jack_ had blown up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SORRY for how long this took!!! D= It has been a really rough past month. My best friend got in a car accident and, while I had time to continue some of Trembling Sweetness since that fic is on a happier note, I couldn't quite make myself work on this one. I do hope you like the chapter though and please give feedback! I'm trying to venture a little further from the plot of the movie so I hope that worked out =) Thanks everyone that has supported this story and I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bunny screwed up and now its time for him to try and fix it.

**Bunnymund’s POV**

                “FROST!” Bunnymund shouted, racing forward to the edge of the carven. “Frostbite, you okay??” he called again but when there wasn’t an answer he took a tentative hop down onto the new ice formations jutting out of the crack. Finding a few safe spots to go down, he continued lower beneath the ice until he spotted the boy. He had dried blood on him from the fight in the Warren, but there were also new wounds blooming across his skin.

                “Frost…?” Bunny said nervously, feeling the guilt weighing thick in his stomach. He had let his anger consume him and now he had pushed the spirit too far. He had hurt a child, the thing he existed to protect and he had gone and attacked the frost child. Reaching out a paw he gently rolled Jack over, grimacing at the bruise on Jack’s face that he had clearly left. That’s when he noticed Jack’s side was bleeding again. He pulled the boy’s hoodie up a little, revealing the bite from one of the Nightmares and that his bandages over the black arrow were covered in blood again. What shocked Bunny the most was the discoloration of Jack’s skin. Spreading out from under the bandages his skin was turning ashen grey like Pitch’s. “Frostbite…” Bunny gasped, about to touch him when suddenly Jack grabbed his wrist, nearly scaring the Pooka out of his fur.

                “Crickey! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!” he yelped instantly, jerking his hand back before looking back up at Jack and he froze.

                “Get away from me.” Jack hissed, his tone icy cold, matching his now golden eyes. This wasn’t like Jack’s transformation in the Warren though. That Jack had been a trickster with a cruel smile and twisted sense of humor. This time the frost spirit just looked… empty. The black spreading over his hair and the ashen color seeping over his skin made him look almost like a corpse and there was no dark gleam in his golden eyes now. The Pooka backed up, drawing his hand away.

                “Jack… what’s wrong?” he said, trying to keep calm.

                “Everything. Especially you.” Jack hissed at him, getting up. “Now leave me alone.” He said before shooting into the air.

                “JACK! WAIT!” Bunny called after him, stunned that the spirit could get up, let alone fly. The rabbit quickly leapt back up out of the ice, about to form a tunnel when he noticed something dark in the snow. He hopped over, picking it up to realize it was Jack’s staff. “What have I done…” he muttered before taking the staff with him and disappearing down a rabbit hole.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                “We have a problem,” Bunny said the moment he came up into the workshop.

                “Bunny! Where were you??” Tooth asked instantly, fluttering nervously above him. All they knew what that Jack had flown off and shortly after the rabbit had disappeared down a tunnel, still in a snarling rage. When she saw that Bunny was holding Jack’s staff she paused, landing next to him. “What did you do to Jack??”

                “I... I messed up bad, Tooth…” Bunny admitted, eyes lowering.

                “Bunny. Tell us what happened.” North said sternly, coming up beside him. The rabbit sighed a little, then started to explain how he had gone after Jack and that the boy had exploded in ice before suddenly flying off again.

                “This is serious. Do you know where he went?” North asked after several moments of silence.

                “No idea… but we need to find him soon… he’s injured…” the rabbit said, “Maybe… maybe he went to Pitch? I think he is becoming a fearling so it makes sense.”

                “Then we go see Pitch,” North agreed and next to him Sandy nodded. “But we must hurry, no time for sleigh” he added as he drew a saber with one hand and pulled a globe out with the other. He looked to the others and they all drew their weapons, preparing for the worst as he set the snow globe to the location of one of the entrances to the Nightmare King’s lair. With a whirl of color it opened before them and tentatively the four guardians charged through.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack goes after Pitch

_“They’ll never accept you now”_

Jack knew exactly where he was going when he left Bunny there in the freezing cold. Somewhere inside he felt a tinge of worry, knowing how much the rabbit hated the snow. The feeling quickly vanished though as he felt the throb on his cheek were the bruise was forming. The image of Bunny’s attack flashed and he clenched his fists.

He started to become aware of how fast he was moving as he realized he was missing his staff. Somehow he was still flying, but he had very little control over it right now as he was bulleting towards Burgess. Everything still felt wrong, the surging heat inside him that made the frostling want to crawl out of his own skin. His magic was much rawer without his staff and the additional power coming from the darkness inside him, starting to form storms and blizzards in his path. It wasn’t until he reached the states that he tried to slow down, only succeeding a little before he crashed hard into the snowy forest outside the small town.

“Ow…” he whined softly as much of his body protested in pain, but he welcomed the cold snow for a few moments. Getting back on his feet Jack started running towards the entrance, worried about trying to fly again after that, and soon found the old wooden bed frame.

“PITCH!” He snarled loudly down the hole in the earth.

“I knew you’d come back to me,” the Nightmare King’s voice purred, thick with sarcasm as he saw that Jack looked furious.

“Get this out of me now!” Jack demanded, storming towards him.

“That’s what you want? Really?” Pitch said, looking disappointed before he smirked. “No.”

“NOW PITCH!” the spirit snarled, frost lightening crackling in his palms.

“Or what? You can hardly do anything in that state,” Pitch mocked, looking over the boy as he stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight. “You’re a bloody mess and without that staff all you have left is a few uncontrolled outbursts.”

“I will freeze you to death,” Jack hissed darkly, his now golden eyes glaring daggers at him.

”Oh really? And what if that outburst freezes all of Burgess with it? You couldn’t have that could you now? Killing all those innocent people?” he said with a smirk, chuckling as Jack’s determined look wavered. “You can’t do anything right, can you Jack?” he hissed.

                “Shut up Pitch” he hissed, feeling the heat bubbling inside him, then shot a blast of ice at him. When Pitch deflected it with a wave of sand, Jack realized he could sense the dreamsand’s movement.

                “Soon you will be completely consumed by my shadows Jack, and then you will be mine forever.” Pitch purred, smirking as Jack lunged at him.

                “I don’t think so.” Jack snarled before punching Pitch in the face. Not expecting the physical attack, the Nightmare King fell back, looking stunned. His expression quickly changed, becoming darker as he got up.

                “I have bigger things to deal with than you Frost.” Pitch hissed, firing another blast of sand at him. To his surprise, the spirit hardly flinched, in fact, the sand hadn’t even hit him. Instead, Jack was now holding a swirling ball of blackness in one hand. It was hot in his hand but didn’t burn. For the first time, Jack started to feel a little hope as he realized that he could manipulate Pitch’s own weapon. As the same time, he could feel the contact with the sand was making his own situation worse as his left hand started to go completely black and his nails extended into sharp claws.

                _“Get it away!!! It’s making it worse!”_ Jack instantly thought as he saw what it was doing, but as he was about to toss it back at Pitch he paused. _“But this could be the only way to defeat Pitch…”_ Looking Pitch dead in the eyes, he formed his frost lightening in his right hand.

                “I will not be your fearling Pitch.” Jack snapped at him before smashing the two elements together with a loud crackle of ice. Pitch stepped back, eyes wide as he saw what the frostling had formed. In his hands was a weapon, looking similar to his staff but instead of a crook on top, it formed into a razor sharp scythe made of pure ice infused with the black sands swirling inside. The Nightmare King’s eyes narrowed and he summoned his own pure black scythe. “And I am going to stop you.” he added, drawing from the anger and power of the fearling side of him before bringing the blade down hard on Pitch.

                “Don’t mock me Frost.” Pitch hissed, stopping the attack but it didn’t stop the ice scythe from cracking part of the black sand weapon. He saw the damage and grimaced. “Guess we’ll just have to make this quick.”  

                “ _Yes, yes we will_ ” Jack thought, feeling the change continuing rapidly with the feeling of the black sand in his hands. He knew that this would have to be fast or he might not be able to stop the darkness from completely consuming him.

“What do you even gain from this Frost? The guardians have abandon you, one even struck you over something you didn’t do!” Pitch shouted at him as Jack struck again. “Poor Jack Frost, never believed in by anyone, not even those he trusted.” He mocked more.

 The younger spirit brought the scythe down again and again, using the wind to aid his shots so he was hitting nearly the same part of Pitch’s scythe. It was working, causing more and more damage to the weapon, but Pitch’s words were started to get into his head.

“I’m the only one that understands you, the only one that can make you believed in but you attack _me?_ ” the Nightmare King growled at him, smirking as he saw Jack’s eyes cloud up. “To the point that you are willing to sacrifice your own body to protect those spirits that hurt you and the humans that will never _ever_ believe in you.”

“SHUT UP!!” Jack cried at him, bring the scythe down again and with a loud shatter, the black sand broke apart. “YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING!” he shouted as he brought it down on Pitch, who dove to the side to dodge. He instantly shot a burst of black sand that knocked the ice scythe out of his hands. Jack snarled and lunged after him, rage and tears bubbling up into a burst of frost lightening. Pitch dodged then grabbed Jack’s arm, twisting it and holding the frostling in his grip.

“Don’t I?” he hissed in his ear as a knife of black sand formed at his throat. In his other hand he grabbed Jack’s black hair and yanked it up, forcing him to look up. To his shock he was staring right at the guardians.

“G-Guys…?” he whimpered, then yelped as he felt the knife press in deeper.

“They’re scared of you now… they didn’t even try to help. They aren’t even trying to help now…” Pitch snickered then he looked out at the four standing a little ways off in the trees. “What? Too afraid of what your little Jackie has become?” he teased them.

“Let him go!” Bunnymund snarled, raising a boomerang and Pitch just laughed at him.

“Or you’ll risk hitting your precious friend? Oh wait, you don’t care about that risk do you? Since you already beat him up.” Pitch snarled at him.

“T-That’s not true! Let him go!” Bunny repeated.

“It’s okay Bunny…” Jack said, suddenly speaking up. He smiled at them, feeling a tear roll down his cheek. “Guy… Run.” He said and Bunny’s eyes widened.

“JACK DON’T-!” He shouted but Jack grabbed onto Pitch before the frost boy exploded in white snow and black sand.


	11. Chapter 11

“JACK!” The guardians called out into the snow storm that now covered much of Burgess. Bunny was panicked, thinking about how much damage a blast like that had caused Jack last time. He didn’t think the frost spirit could survive another. Looking around, he spotted a bit of black poking out of the snow and he ran over. “Over here!!!” he called to the others as he started to dig, ignoring that his paws were going numb from the cold. Tooth was soon by his side as he got hold of enough of the black fabric to pull him up. To their shock, it wasn’t Jack, but instead the Nightmare King.

“Pitch?!” Bunny snapped, releasing him instantly. The other man stirred at the rough movement and he sat up, still half buried in the snow.

“Where’s Jack?” Tooth asked behind Bunny and Pitch glared at her, rubbing his head.

“Why would I know that?” he hissed, trying to get out of the snow. Bunny ignored him and looked around quickly.

“JACK!” He shouted again as Sandy floated over and actually helped pull Pitch out of the snow and ice. Bunny glared at him as he got up. “Why are you helping him?” he growled at Sandy. Above his head he formed symbols saying he wasn’t at all scared of the Nightmare King, seeing that he was fairly injured from what Jack had done. He scoffed at the idea of helping their enemy but didn’t stop them. Turning back out to the snow the Pooka hardly got a few steps into the snow before he was knocked back by a blur of darkness that went straight towards Pitch.

                “What is-?!” Tooth yelped before it attacked the Nightmare King with a full snarl. She shot back, trying to distinguish between the darkness of Pitch Black and the thing now trying to rip out his throat.

                “JACK!” Bunny shouted next to her and that’s when it stopped and looked up at them. The fairy let out a gasp as she saw him look up, fangs dripping with black sand and blood. His eyes were narrow and glowing golden as his black claws dug into Pitch’s arms. The boy’s skin was almost as black as his hair now and the nightmare sand was swirling around him.

                “Jack, come on, let him go…” Bunny said, taking a few steps closer. He crouched down on all fours and lowered his ears, trying to seem small and unthreatening. The boy watched him closely, still holding onto Pitch, who started to laugh.

                “Couldn’t fight the fearling after all could you Jackie?” he mocked, getting the boy’s attention again and he snarled loudly in Pitch’s face.

                “Jack! No! Look at me!!” Bunny shouted at him, walking up closer to him nervously. “Look at me and focus mate” he said. Jack looked back up at him, pausing again. He slowly released Pitch and backed off, looking down at his clawed hands as he got off him. Backing away more, he started shaking and clawing at his arms. He started scratching at wherever the sand was, trying to get it off.

                “Hey, hey calm down! You’re just hurting yourself more!” the rabbit said quickly when Jack didn’t stop clawing at himself, the guardian grabbed his arm. He pulled Jack down, forcing him to stop. The smaller spirit instantly froze up, looking at Bunny with fear. The sudden change shocked the Pooka into letting him go. “I’m not going to hurt you Jack, come on…” he said softly.

                “ _Liar…”_ Jack hissed at him, his voice shaky and sounded like an animalistic hiss.

                “None of us are going to hurt you Jack” Bunny pleaded with him, trying to calm him down.

                “ _You’re LYING!! Stop lying to me!”_ the frostling snarled, firing a mixed blast of frost lightening and black sand at the guardians. _“All you do is hurt me!!”_ Jack hissed as he stood up. He started to look less animal-like as he did, the sand now swirling around his arms as he gained more control over it. “And now I think I should hurt you.” He said coldly, his golden eyes glinting before he jumped into the air and the wind swept him away towards Burgess.

                Bunny growled in frustration. They had been so close to getting him back… Jack had almost snapped out of it, and then he had messed it all up again. Now the young spirit was acting more like the episode in the Warren. He turned to the other Guardians when Pitch started laughing again.

                “Will you shut up?!” Bunny snapped at him before he could stop himself. The Nightmare King just smirked at him, looking like he had just one won the fight. “Why are you so happy?”

                “It looks like Jack will make a lovely fearling after all.” Pitch laughed. “Good luck Guardians, the Nightmare Prince has risen.”

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: This is something I've been wanting to write for a while. If I have time between my other fanfics I'll continue writing it, so let me know what you think!


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